Terry Odell's Blog, page 241

And The Winner Is

Congratulations to Todd Matthews who is the winner of Terry Ambrose’s drawing for a copy of one of his books. Todd, you’ve been emailed with contact information. Thanks so much to everyone for visiting and commenting.

Friday Field Trip — California

There’s still time to enter Terry Ambrose’s giveaway. Leave a comment on Tuesday’s post.

(Don’t forget my Box of Books contest, and please take my survey. Links in the sidebar)

I left for Los Angeles last night, and thought I’d share some pictures I’ve taken on other trips to California.

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Santa Monica beach

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Santa Monica Pier

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Getty Museum

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View from Getty Museum

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Chinatown, San Francisco

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Streets of San Francisco

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Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

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Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

Have a great weekend, everyon...

When Technology Fails

First — have you taken my survey yet? Please do. The link is in the sidebar. Only 5 questions. And there’s still time to enter Terry Ambrose’s giveaway. Leave a comment on his post.


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photo from Only HD Wallpapers

Technology. We have access to things at our fingertips, round the clock. It’s great when it works. When it doesn’t—not so great. I figure I lost the better part of two working days dealing with technological glitches.

Some of you know I had issues with my Box of Books giveaway and had no...

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Mount Manatee Clam Soup

Several years back, we established a “tradition” that Hubster was in charge of Friday night dinners, which also happened to be our Netflix Nights. When he was working, he’d stop and pick something up on his way home. Now that he’s retired, there’s no more “on the way home” and making a special trip for takeout doesn’t really work when you’re so far from most restaurants. He started cooking. At first, it was pasta with jarred sauce, but I’m pleased to say he now scouts out recipes and has even...

A Simple Trick To Avoid Email Scams

Today I welcome Terry Ambrose to Terry’s Place. He has just released his second novel, License to Lie, which is the first in a suspense series featuring two protagonists—a male criminologist and a female con artist. In addition to his fiction writing, Terry Ambrose writes a column for an online news source about scams and cons, and he’s offering some excellent advice.

Thanks, Terry, for letting me be here today. There’s a con artist in both of my books because the con is one of my favorite sub...

Reviews – What About Those Stars?

What I’m (re)reading: The Killing Floor by Lee Child (book club)
And don’t forget you can still enter to win a box of books. Check the sidebar.

Authors want to see lots of reviews for their books. Why? Reviews and star ratings can move a book up or down the visibility charts at the e-book stores. Some promotion sites won’t consider a book unless it has over 15 reviews with a 4.5 star average. But are they really reviews if they’re written by readers and not professional reviewers? Some folks ju...

Friday Field Trip — Greetings from Stewart Rowe

Stewart Rowe sent me New Year Greetings with some pictures attached. Of course, I’m sharing them with you.

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American Robin

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Ruby Crowned Kinglet

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Pied-billed Grebes

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Northern Pintail

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Mute Swans

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Gadwall

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Black-necked Stilts

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Overused Words

If you haven’t seen this already, Lake Superior State University in Michigan has released its “Words to be Banishedfrom the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness” for the 38th year in a row.

This year’s hit list:

Fiscal cliff

Kick the can down the road

Double down

Job creators/creation

Passion/passionate

YOLO (You only live once)

Spoiler alert

Bucket list

Trending

Superfood

Guru

Boneless wings

(For expanded descriptions and the reasons for the choices, click here.)

We all ha...

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Festive Goat Cheese

First — If you haven’t already done so, I’d appreciate it if you’d answer my survey questions about the direction for this blog in 2013. And, my contest for a box of books is up and running. Click here

Festive Goat Cheese

I made these for New Years Eve when we like to have munchies while we wait for the new year. They’re fast and easy.

Ingredients:

2 ‘logs’ of goat cheese

1 bunch dill

Paprika– about 2–3 T (I used a combo of regular and smoked, about 4:1)

Crackers or cocktail rye

Instructions:

Put the...

Does This Label Make Me Look Sexy?

Happy New Year, everyone. Today I welcome C.J. West to Terry’s Place as my first guest of 2013. CJ is the author of seven novels, most recently Dinner At Deadman’s, a mystery set in the world of estate sales and antiques.

My research for Dinner At Deadman’s took me to some places that might make you feel queasy and to some estate sales where people love to browse, but some can’t bring themselves to buy because they feel icky buying something from a dead person. My hero, Lorado Martin, has made...